Arsenal Ready To Do Business With Chelsea For £35m Star After Agreeing Record Deal

The January transfer window is in full swing so clubs are working hard trying to strengthen their squads for the second half of the season and put deals in place for the summer. Today, the latest on Olivier Giroud…

Arsenal are willing to sell Olivier Giroud to Chelsea in a £35m deal after agreeing a club record fee for Borussia Dortmund hitman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, according to the Daily Mail.

The Gunners have been in negotiations with Dortmund all month over Aubameyang but the newspaper is one of several outlets reporting today that a deal has finally been agreed worth around £55m.

The transfer is expected to be formally announced over the next 24 hours and it will represent a club record deal for Arsenal as it will surpass the £52m they paid Lyon for Alexandre Lacazette in the summer.

Aubameyang’s arrival will see Giroud drop even further down the pecking order after the French international lost his place to Lacazette and the 31-year-old needs regular game-time to cement his position in the France World Cup squad.

There had been talk of Giroud being part of the Aubameyang deal as Dortmund were keen to sign the striker as a direct replacement but the Daily Mail claim Giroud’s family wants to remain in London.

That has now opened the door for a possible switch to Chelsea as the Blues have also identified Giroud as a target after struggling to get a deal agreed for Roma hitman Edin Dzeko.

Arsene Wenger suggested last week that he wanted Giroud to stay at the Emirates but the Daily Mail says Arsenal are now ready to sell the Frenchman to Chelsea if their £35m valuation is met.

Antonio Conte is in the market for another striker to offer support for Alvaro Morata as the miss-firing Spaniard has scored just once in his last ten appearances in all competitions.

Michy Batshuayi scored twice during Chelsea’s FA Cup win over Newcastle on Saturday but it was a rare start for the Belgian international as he’s struggled to establish himself under Conte.

Batshuayi is expected to leave Stamford Bridge if Chelsea sign a new striker and coincidentally the report says Dortmund are close to agreeing a deal to sign the 24-year-old on loan for the rest of the season.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Chelsea transfer news

So it looks like we’re set for a striker merry-go-round over the coming days with Aubameyang joining Arsenal, Batshuayi heading to Dortmund and Giroud possibly joining Chelsea.